Scottish Executive

Adult Literacy

Robert Brown (Glasgow) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to tackle levels of illiteracy amongst young adults in Glasgow.

Iain Gray: Glasgow City Council Community Learning Strategy Partnership has been allocated £3.7 million over three years to 2004 to help raise levels of adult literacy and numeracy. The partnership has submitted an action plan, which estimates that over 21,000 adults will be helped during this time.

Agriculture

Richard Lochhead (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many limited partnership tenancies there are in the agricultural sector and how many such tenancies have been created in each of the last 10 years.

Ross Finnie: The information requested is not held centrally.

Alcohol Misuse

Richard Lochhead (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many residential beds there were for the treatment of alcohol misuse in the (a) public and (b) private sector in each NHS board area in each of the last three years, and expressed (i) per capita and (ii) per alcohol misuser.

Mrs Mary Mulligan: Information on the number of residential beds for the treatment of alcohol misuse in the public and private sector in each NHS board area is not available centrally.

Animal Welfare

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-25393 by Ross Finnie on 17 May 2002, whether it intends to carry out a public consultation on banning all cages for laying hens and whether it has, or intends to, study the findings of the public consultation recently launched by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on banning all cages for laying hens in England.

Ross Finnie: The Executive has no plans to carry out a similar consultation exercise at the moment. The findings of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs' consultation will be noted once these are available.

Audiology

Marilyn Livingstone (Kirkcaldy) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to commission further digital hearing aid trials involving current analogue hearing aid users.

Mrs Mary Mulligan: There are no plans to commission further trials of digital hearing aids. The Good Practice Guidance on Adult Fitting and Hearing Services issued by the Executive in March last year distils the results of current research and practice into a series of statements, which NHS boards and trusts may use to frame service provision.

  I also refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-28082 on 26 August 2002.

Audiology

Marilyn Livingstone (Kirkcaldy) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many digital hearing aids have been issued in each NHS board area since becoming available on central contacts.

Mrs Mary Mulligan: These details are not held centrally. NHS boards should be approached directly for this information.

  The table gives details of the digital hearing aids drawn off the central contract arranged by Scottish Health care Supplies by NHS trusts during the period January 2001 to December 2001.

  


NHS Trust 
  

No. of Digital Aids 
  



West Lothian Health care 
  

11 
  



Highland Acute Hospitals 
  

10 
  



Lomond and Argyll Primary Care 
  

25 
  



Tayside University Hospitals 
  

32 
  



South Glasgow University Hospitals 
  

30 
  



North Glasgow University Hospitals 
  

86 
  



Argyll and Clyde Acute Hospitals 
  

17 
  



Fife Acute Hospitals 
  

13 
  



Lanarkshire Primary Care 
  

123 
  



Grampian University Hospitals 
  

3 
  



Ayrshire and Arran Acute Hospitals 
  

22 
  



Dumfries and Galloway Acute and Maternity Hospitals 
  

65 
  



Lothian University Hospitals 
  

65 
  



Total 
  

602

Audiology

Marilyn Livingstone (Kirkcaldy) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what additional finance for audiology has been made available to Fife NHS Board in each of the last 12 months and whether such finance was prioritised specifically for audiology services.

Mrs Mary Mulligan: Funding allocations to NHS boards are made on an annual basis. It is for local NHS boards and trusts to prioritise their funding to meet the needs of residents within their area of responsibility.

  In April this year, as a short-term measure and to reduce unacceptably long waiting times for audiology services, I announced additional funding of £750,000 across NHS boards during 2002-03. NHS Fife received £49,600 as their share of the additional funds.

  When the wide-ranging review of audiology services, commissioned by the Executive last year, reports in the autumn we shall be well placed to identify the best way forward for audiology services in Scotland.

Crime

Richard Lochhead (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many drug-related crimes were committed in each police force area in each of the last three years expressed per capita and as a percentage of all crimes committed in each area.

Mr Jim Wallace: The available information is given in the following table. The category of "drug" crimes recorded by the police only includes crimes involving the importation, cultivation, supply or possession of drugs. Other types of crime e.g. crimes of dishonesty to fund the purchase of drugs or crimes committed under the influence of drugs may be "drug related" but cannot be separately distinguished in the recorded crime statistics.

  Drug Crimes Recorded by Police Force Area per 10,000 Population and as a Percentage of Total Crime, 1999 to 2001

  

 

Drugs Crimes as a Rate per 10,000 Population 
  

Drugs Crimes as a Percentage of all Crimes 
  



Police Force Area 
  

1999 
  

2000 
  

2001 
  

1999 
  

2000 
  

2001 
  



Central 
  

47 
  

46 
  

71 
  

7 
  

8 
  

12 
  



Dumfries and Galloway 
  

48 
  

31 
  

45 
  

8 
  

6 
  

8 
  



Fife 
  

43 
  

36 
  

47 
  

6 
  

5 
  

6 
  



Grampian 
  

50 
  

44 
  

50 
  

5 
  

5 
  

6 
  



Lothian and Borders 
  

57 
  

58 
  

63 
  

6 
  

6 
  

7 
  



Northern 
  

55 
  

39 
  

58 
  

12 
  

8 
  

12 
  



Strathclyde 
  

76 
  

81 
  

89 
  

8 
  

9 
  

10 
  



Tayside 
  

51 
  

42 
  

53 
  

6 
  

5 
  

7 
  



Scotland 
  

62 
  

61 
  

71 
  

7 
  

7 
  

9

Crofters Commission

Tavish Scott (Shetland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what the Crofters Commission’s policy is in dealing with croft land that is currently not recorded on the Register of Crofts.

Ross Finnie: For the purposes of crofting legislation a croft is defined by section 3 of the Crofters (Scotland) Act 1993. The Crofters Commission policies apply to all land undisputedly covered by that restrictive, statutory definition. All crofts should be recorded in the Register of Crofts and the Crofters Commission has an obligation under section 41 of the 1993 act to ensure that they are. Only land that falls within the definition of a croft in the 1993 act can be recorded in the Register of Crofts. Land which does not fall within the definition of a croft in section 3 of the 1993 act is not croft land and the Crofters Commission has no policies in relation to such land.

Dentistry

Richard Lochhead (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many and what percentage of dental appointments were missed in each of the last three years and what the cost was of such non-attendance, broken down by NHS board area.

Mrs Mary Mulligan: The information requested is not held centrally. Under Paragraph 34 of Schedule 1 of the National Health Service (General Dental Services) (Scotland) Regulations 1996, a dentist is permitted to charge patients who do not turn up for their appointments.

Digital Technology

Richard Lochhead (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made with the development of broadband services in rural communities and what the (a) current and (b) anticipated levels of coverage are under present targets.

Iain Gray: The Scottish Executive set out its broadband strategy last year in Connecting Scotland: Our Broadband Future and our vision was to make broadband connections more affordable and pervasive across the country, including in rural areas.

  As part of that strategy, the Executive has developed the Pathfinder initiatives to aggregate public sector demand for broadband in the Highlands and Islands and South of Scotland. It is hoped that this major investment on the part of the public sector will help to stimulate both demand for and supply of broadband within these areas, which might not be immediately covered by the commercial market. Work on the Pathfinder initiative is well in hand.

  Our strategy also undertook to identify where there was a need for direct support measures; our programme under the UK Broadband Fund is developing this element through almost a dozen projects managed by Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise. These include awareness raising measures and technology trials in rural areas, such as Powerline Carrier and Wireless pilots, which aim to determine the potential of these technologies for delivering broadband in rural communities.

  The UK Government has set a general target on broadband which is to "have the most extensive and competitive broadband market in the G7 by 2005" and the Scottish Executive’s broadband strategy is designed to contribute to this overall objective.

  Currently, about half of the Scottish population has access to broadband via terrestrial ADSL and/or cable-modem equivalents.

Eating Disorders

Shona Robison (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people suffering from anorexia nervosa are currently waiting for specialist treatment, broken down by NHS board area.

Malcolm Chisholm: The information requested is not available centrally.

  People suffering from anorexia nervosa are treated and supported through mainstream mental health and social work services, and treatment is undertaken mainly in out-patient settings, with very few in-patient and day cases. Information on the number of patients waiting for in-patient and day case treatment is collected only at speciality level. Information about numbers waiting for out-patient treatment is not collected centrally. The Health Department and ISD Scotland are currently undertaking a review of data collection, including out-patients. When implemented these improved methods of collection will provide better information on waiting.

Eating Disorders

Shona Robison (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the current waiting times are for people requiring specialist treatment for anorexia nervosa, broken down by NHS board area.

Malcolm Chisholm: Information in the form requested is not available centrally.

  People suffering from anorexia nervosa are treated and supported through mainstream mental health and social work services, and treatment is undertaken in a variety of settings, with very few in-patient and day cases. Most treatments are carried out in hospital and community health settings on an out-patient basis. Information on waiting times for out-patient attendances is available only at speciality level and does not identify specific conditions or treatments.

Education

Donald Gorrie (Central Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what powers it has to make it easier for voluntary youth organisations to apply to the New Opportunities Fund, PE and Sport in Schools and Activities for Young People grant programmes.

Dr Elaine Murray: The Scottish Executive was involved in the setting of the Policy Directions to the New Opportunities Fund (NOF) for the operation of the PE and Sport in Schools Programme in Scotland. The implementation of the programme within that policy framework is a matter for the NOF itself. Indicative allocations have been made to local authority areas and, in submitting proposals to the NOF for consideration, local authorities will have to demonstrate that they have consulted locally, including with voluntary sector interests.

Education

Donald Gorrie (Central Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what legislation covers minimum space requirements for staff and pupils in school classrooms.

Nicol Stephen: The School Premises (General Requirements and Standards) (Scotland) Regulations 1967 set out broad minimum standards in relation to certain aspects of school accommodation, including areas for school sites and overall minimum educational areas.

  The regulations do not prescribe minimum space requirements for staff and pupils in school classrooms. It is for education authorities to make their own assessment of the capacity of individual classrooms taking account of the broad requirements of the 1967 regulations and experience of the delivery of the education service at a practical level.

Enterprise

Richard Lochhead (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps have been taken to encourage more multi-national companies to establish their headquarters in Scotland and what incentives are available to them.

Iain Gray: As part of the Global Connections Strategy launched in October 2001, the Executive stated its aim of attracting high value economic activity to Scotland and stressed the importance of helping anchor companies in Scotland. Scottish Development International officials based both at home and overseas continue to work closely with new and existing clients to identify new inward investment opportunities, including the possibility that companies may wish to establish their European headquarters in Scotland.

  A number of incentives are available to companies wishing to establish headquarters in Scotland ranging from grants, most notably Regional Selective Assistance grant within the Assisted Areas of Scotland to help with sourcing customers, suppliers and suitably skilled employees.

  For high potential companies which are owned and are headquartered in Scotland, the Global Companies Development Process offers tailored support to global companies or companies who wish to become global.

Enterprise

Richard Lochhead (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the most recent budgets allocated by Scottish Enterprise National (SEN) to each network company are, expressed (a) as a percentage of the overall SEN budget and (b) per capita.

Iain Gray: This is an operational matter for the enterprise networks.

European Convention on Human Rights

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether (a) its or (b) local authorities' powers to make compulsory purchase orders are limited by the European Convention on Human Rights and, if so, in what way they are limited.

Hugh Henry: Under the Human Rights Act 1998, all public authorities, including local authorities, are required by law to act compatibly with the European Convention on Human Rights (the Convention).

  Article 1 of Protocol 1 of the Convention states "No one shall be deprived of his possessions except in the public interest and subject to the conditions provided for by law and by the general principles of international law."

  The Scottish Executive has carried out an audit of all areas of activity in order to identify any potential incompatibilities with the Convention. We concluded that the compulsory purchase legislation is compatible with the Convention without amendment. We keep under review the need to amend existing law and procedures to comply with the Convention. We shall continue to do so, particularly in the context of new cases.

Facilitate (Scotland)

Fiona McLeod (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has received an application for funding from Facilitate (Scotland) and, if so, what criteria were used to assess it and whether the application was successful.

Malcolm Chisholm: Facilitate (Scotland) applied for funding for 2002-03 under section 16B of the National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1978. Applications for funding were also made for the previous year both under section 16B, and under section 10 of the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968. All three applications were assessed against the publicly available criteria for these grant schemes, but were not successful.

Film Industry

Richard Lochhead (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made towards the establishment of a film promotion initiative for the north east.

Dr Elaine Murray: In spring this year Scottish Enterprise Grampian commissioned a feasibility study into the establishment of a film liaison service for the north east. A meeting was subsequently held on 27 August between the Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire Councils and SE Grampian, and it was agreed to progress this development by drafting objectives for such a service for further discussion.

Fire Service

Richard Lochhead (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many false alarms each fire service received in each of the last three years, also expressed as a percentage of the overall number of calls.

Dr Richard Simpson: The information is as follows:

  


Fire Brigade 
  

1999-2000 
  

2000-01 
  

2001-02 
  



FA 
  

% 
  

FA 
  

% 
  

FA 
  

% 
  



Central Scotland 
  

2,602 
  

51.4 
  

2,537 
  

48.4 
  

2,699 
  

46.9 
  



Dumfries and Galloway 
  

784 
  

40.3 
  

657 
  

31 
  

764 
  

36.7 
  



Fife 
  

3,159 
  

46 
  

3,096 
  

46 
  

2,926 
  

42.6 
  



Grampian 
  

3,135 
  

39 
  

3,342 
  

41.1 
  

3,181 
  

39.4 
  



Highland and Islands 
  

1,953 
  

41.6 
  

2,187 
  

40 
  

2,116 
  

41.5 
  



Lothian and Borders 
  

9,399 
  

46.8 
  

10,209 
  

47.7 
  

10,695 
  

47.7 
  



Strathclyde 
  

25,165 
  

44.2 
  

26,179 
  

42.9 
  

27,146 
  

43.8 
  



Tayside 
  

3,943 
  

43.4 
  

3,915 
  

43.4 
  

4,297 
  

43.5 
  



Scotland Total 
  

50,140 
  

46 
  

52,122 
  

43.8 
  

53,824 
  

44 
  



  Notes:

  FA: The number of false alarm incidents attended by each brigade in the financial year.

  %: The number of false fire alarm incidents attended by brigades as a percentage of all incidents.

  These figures include well-intentioned calls and faulty apparatus as well as malicious calls.

Further Education

Donald Gorrie (Central Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive why the £40,000 annual training grant previously paid under the Further Education (Approved Associations) (Scotland) Grant Regulations 1989 has been terminated.

Donald Gorrie (Central Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive for what purpose the former £40,000 annual training grant paid under the Further Education (Approved Associations) (Scotland) Grant Regulations 1989 is now being used.

Cathy Jamieson: Children and Young People's Grant Scheme is supporting 59 organisations in financial year 2002-03. Resources are fully committed assisting core HQ and project expenditure.

General Practitioners

Richard Lochhead (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many and what percentage of GP appointments were missed in each of the last three years and what the cost was of such non-attendance, broken down by NHS board area.

Malcolm Chisholm: The information requested is not held centrally. A service-led group, chaired by a NHS Trust Chief Executive, has been established to consider the issue of missed appointments. NHS boards and trusts, together with primary care teams are already working to ensure that wherever possible if an appointment is cancelled it can be filled by another patient. Patients also have a responsibility to ensure that where they are likely to have difficulty in attending an appointment they inform their practice or clinic as soon as possible.

Glasgow Science Centre

Robert Brown (Glasgow) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what sums have been paid from public funds to (a) Glasgow Science Centre Charitable Trust, (b) Glasgow Science Centre Limited and (c) any associated companies, broken down by (i) date and (ii) source.

Iain Gray: Publication of these details is a matter for the Glasgow Science Centre and its funders. The Scottish Executive has not provided any funding to the centre.

Glasgow Science Centre

Robert Brown (Glasgow) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how much (a) has been paid in recent termination packages to former senior staff of the Glasgow Science Centre and (b) public funding has been used to finance such packages, broken down by (i) the former Chief Executive, (ii) the former Director of Operations, (iii) the Science Director, and (iv) any other senior management staff.

Iain Gray: This is a matter for the Glasgow Science Centre and its funders.

Health

Tavish Scott (Shetland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what proposals it has for health councils.

Malcolm Chisholm: The Patient Focus and Public Involvement  framework - published in December last year - indicated that we would consult on a proposal to establish a Scottish Health Council as a national body with a local presence to replace local health councils. Our paper will draw on pre-consultation work being carried out by the Scottish Consumer Council and Scottish Health Feedback which will be completed in September. We plan to publish the consultation paper during October.

Health

Mr Andrew Welsh (Angus) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what measures are being taken to improve nutrition by reducing the consumption of salt.

Malcolm Chisholm: We are actively pursuing the recommendations from the Scottish Diet Action Plan aimed at reducing salt intake by more than a third by 2005. Guidelines have been produced for the improvement of nutritional standards in schools, hospitals and catering establishments which encourage the adoption of healthier practices into all aspects of catering, including reduction in usage of salt. At a UK level, the Food Standards Agency is pursuing a number of initiatives involving major retailers and manufacturers to reduce the level of salt in processed foods.

Health

Mr Andrew Welsh (Angus) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the daily recommended intake of salt is for (a) men, (b) women and (c) children in order to maintain a healthy diet.

Malcolm Chisholm: The relationship between salt and blood pressure was considered by the Committee on the Medical Aspects of Food Policy (COMA) in its 1994 report, Nutritional Aspects of Cardiovascular Disease,  which recommended a reduction in the average intake of salt by the adult population from 9g per day, the levels current at the time, to 6g   per day (5g per day in women and 7g per day in men). A similar proportionate reduction in the salt content of children’s diets was recommended but insufficient data were available to enable quantification.

Health

Mr Andrew Welsh (Angus) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what information is available on the average adult intake of salt.

Malcolm Chisholm: Information on salt intake is available from the National Diet and Nutrition Surveys, the National Food Survey and the Scottish Health Survey.

Health

Mr Andrew Welsh (Angus) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the health effects are of an excess of salt in the diet of (a) men, (b) women and (c) children.

Malcolm Chisholm: Scientific evidence suggests the main health risk associated with high salt intakes relates to elevated blood pressure or hypertension, which is an important contributory factor to coronary heart disease and stroke. The majority of evidence is derived from studies on adults; there is very little evidence available regarding the effect of high salt intake on children.

Higher Education

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive under what circumstances the use of compulsory redundancy in the university sector would be an appropriate method of staff management.

Iain Gray: Higher education institutions are autonomous bodies and decisions concerning staffing levels and human resource management are primarily a matter for them and their governing bodies.

Higher Education

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the use of compulsory redundancy in the university sector is consistent with the need to ensure, improve and maintain effective personnel and staff management; what guidance it has issued to the sector on this issue; whether such guidance is being adhered to, and how it monitors compliance with such guidance.

Iain Gray: The annual guidance letter to the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council (SHEFC) in December 2001 stated that the Executive looked to the council to develop systems which will provide evidence that institutions are giving priority to and making progress in using the funding provided by the council to improve the management of human resources.

  SHEFC have introduced a new condition of core grants from this year and I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-28544 today.

Higher Education

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what representations it has made to the University of Dundee on compulsory redundancy of university staff and effective personnel and staff management in the university sector.

Iain Gray: No representations have been made to the University of Dundee by the Executive in this regard. Higher education institutions are autonomous bodies and decisions concerning staffing levels and human resource management are a primarily a matter for individual institutions and their governing bodies.

Higher Education

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what action the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council (SHEFC) is taking in relation to (a) monitoring compliance by universities with grant funding conditions and (b) ensuring that internal personnel and staff management strategies are in place and are being demonstrated to university staff and that any action taken by universities which directly affects staff are consistent with such strategies.

Iain Gray: SHEFC monitors the use of funds to which a specific condition has been applied to the offer of a grant in a variety of ways. The new condition of core grants introduced by SHEFC from 2002-03 includes a requirement that institutions, taking account of their own particular circumstances and context, devise and implement strategies which effectively address human resource policies and management and to demonstrate their key actions and strategies for human resources to stakeholders. Monitoring of progress will be done primarily through information provided in institutions' strategic plans which SHEFC are currently considering in respect of 2002-03.

  Higher education institutions are autonomous bodies and the primary responsibility for ensuring that an institution's actions are consistent with its strategic plan remains with the governing body and management of each institution.

Higher Education

Andrew Wilson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many undergraduate courses relating to professional disciplines offered by universities are not accredited or recognised by the relevant professional body, broken down by (a) institution, (b) course and (c) professional body, and what action it is taking in order to ensure that applicants to and students attending such courses are aware that the course is not so accredited or recognised.

Iain Gray: This information is not held centrally.

Hospital-Acquired Infection

Mr Duncan Hamilton (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many cases of hospital-acquired infection were reported at Inverclyde Hospital in each of the last five years and how this compares to other hospitals (a) in that NHS board area and (b) across Scotland.

Nicola Sturgeon (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether any patients for whom discharge was delayed subsequently developed a hospital-acquired infection whilst awaiting discharge during the last 12 months and, if so, in which hospital each such incident occurred.

Nicola Sturgeon (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many wards in NHS hospitals have been closed at some time during the last 12 months due to outbreaks of hospital-acquired infections.

Malcolm Chisholm: This information requested is not held centrally.

Hospitals

Richard Lochhead (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many and what percentage of hospital appointments were missed in each of the last three years, broken down by NHS board area.

Malcolm Chisholm: Information on patients who did not attend a hospital appointment is available only for first out-patient appointments. The number, and percentage, of patients who did not attend (DNA) their first out-patient appointment, for the years ended 31 March 2000, 31 March 2001 and 31 March 2002, by NHS board, is given in the following table.

  There are many reasons why patients might fail to attend a hospital appointment. Work is currently under way to examine ways of reducing the number of patients who do not keep appointments, to identify and disseminate good practice, and to consider the development of targets to drive improvements in performance. The group is expected to report before the end of 2002.

  NHSScotland: Number and Percentage of Patients That Did Not Attend Their First Out-patient Appointment, by NHS Board of Residence. Years Ended 31 March 2000, 31 March 2001 and 31 March 2002P

  

 

Year Ended 31 March 2000 
  

Year Ended 31 March 2001 
  

Year Ended 31 March 2002P




NHS Board 
  

Number 
  

Percentage 
  

Number 
  

Percentage 
  

Number 
  

Percentage 
  



Argyll and Clyde 
  

14,031 
  

11.6% 
  

13,947 
  

11.5% 
  

10,817 
  

12.3% 
  



Ayrshire and Arran 
  

10,791 
  

10.2% 
  

10,708 
  

10.4% 
  

11,653 
  

11.4% 
  



Borders 
  

1,730 
  

6.3% 
  

1,666 
  

6.3% 
  

1,679 
  

6.2% 
  



Dumfries and Galloway 
  

2,166 
  

6.8% 
  

2,189 
  

6.9% 
  

1,766 
  

7.2% 
  



Fife 
  

9,827 
  

9.9% 
  

9,979 
  

10.1% 
  

9,975 
  

10.2% 
  



Forth Valley 
  

6,761 
  

9.2% 
  

6,913 
  

9.5% 
  

6,897 
  

10.4% 
  



Grampian 
  

9,277 
  

8.0% 
  

9,912 
  

8.8% 
  

10,318 
  

9.0% 
  



Greater Glasgow 
  

45,883 
  

15.5% 
  

42,402 
  

14.9% 
  

46,615 
  

16.8% 
  



Highland 
  

3,968 
  

7.2% 
  

3,856 
  

7.1% 
  

3,758 
  

6.9% 
  



Lanarkshire 
  

20,096 
  

13.0% 
  

19,120 
  

12.7% 
  

18,451 
  

13.9% 
  



Lothian 
  

22,966 
  

11.4% 
  

23,001 
  

11.6% 
  

21,103 
  

11.5% 
  



Orkney 
  

129 
  

4.0% 
  

149 
  

4.6% 
  

154 
  

5.7% 
  



Shetland 
  

210 
  

4.1% 
  

243 
  

4.6% 
  

157 
  

3.4% 
  



Tayside 
  

13,956 
  

10.2% 
  

13,714 
  

10.3% 
  

13,305 
  

10.4% 
  



Western Isles 
  

497 
  

7.3% 
  

556 
  

8.0% 
  

440 
  

7.9% 
  



Scotland 
  

162,288 
  

11.3% 
  

158,357 
  

11.3% 
  

157,088 
  

12.0% 
  



  PProvisional.

  Source: SMR00, ISD Scotland.

Hospitals

Richard Lochhead (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many vacant consultant posts there currently are in each acute hospital and expressed as a percentage of the complement of each hospital and how long the post has been vacant in each case.

Mrs Mary Mulligan: The latest available information on the number of consultant vacancies in each acute trust, is shown in the following table. Information at hospital level is not held centrally.

  Consultant Vacancies in Acute Trusts in NHSScotland: Headcount at 30 September 2001

  





Establishment 
  

In Post 
  

Total Vacancies 
  

Length of Vacancy 
  

Vacancies as a % of Establishment 
  



< 6 Months 
  

6 Months or More 
  

Total 
  

6 Months or More 
  



Argyll and Clyde Acute Hospitals NHS Trust 
  

 164 
  

 151 
  

 13 
  

 8 
  

 5 
  

 7.9 
  

 3.0 
  



Ayrshire and Arran Acute Hospitals NHS Trust 
  

 138 
  

 136 
  

 2 
  

 2 
  

- 
  

 1.4 
  

- 
  



Borders Acute Hospital NHS Trust 
  

 49 
  

 47 
  

 2 
  

 2 
  

- 
  

 4.1 
  

- 
  



Dumfries and Galloway Acute and Maternity Hospitals NHS 
  Trust 
  

 69 
  

 68 
  

 1 
  

- 
  

 1 
  

 1.4 
  

 1.4 
  



Fife Acute Hospitals NHS Trust 
  

 129 
  

 116 
  

 13 
  

 1 
  

 12 
  

 10.1 
  

 9.3 
  



Forth Valley Acute Hospitals NHS Trust 
  

 112 
  

 110 
  

 2 
  

 1 
  

 1 
  

 1.8 
  

 0.9 
  



Grampian University Hospitals NHS Trust 
  

 308 
  

 295 
  

 13 
  

 11 
  

 2 
  

 4.2 
  

 0.6 
  



North Glasgow University Hospitals NHS Trust 
  

 469 
  

 462 
  

 7 
  

 2 
  

 5 
  

 1.5 
  

 1.1 
  



South Glasgow University Hospitals NHS Trust 
  

 211 
  

 209 
  

 2 
  

 2 
  

- 
  

 0.9 
  

- 
  



Yorkhill NHS Trust 
  

 115 
  

 112 
  

 3 
  

 3 
  

- 
  

 2.6 
  

- 
  



Highland Acute Hospitals NHS Trust 
  

 102 
  

 102 
  

- 
  

- 
  

- 
  

- 
  

- 
  



Lanarkshire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust 
  

 226 
  

 207 
  

 19 
  

 8 
  

 11 
  

 8.4 
  

 4.9 
  



Lothian University Hospitals NHS Trust 
  

 445 
  

 437 
  

 8 
  

 1 
  

 7 
  

 1.8 
  

 1.6 
  



West Lothian Health care NHS Trust1


 85 
  

 80 
  

 5 
  

 2 
  

 3 
  

 5.9 
  

 3.5 
  



Tayside University Hospitals NHS Trust 
  

 270 
  

 262 
  

 8 
  

 8 
  

- 
  

 3.0 
  

- 
  



Orkney Health Board2


 3 
  

 3 
  

- 
  

- 
  

- 
  

- 
  

- 
  



Shetland Health Board2


 9 
  

 7 
  

 2 
  

- 
  

 2 
  

 22.2 
  

 22.2 
  



Western Isles Health Board2


 15 
  

 12 
  

 3 
  

 1 
  

 2 
  

 20.0 
  

 13.3 
  



  Source: ISD(M)4 Medical and Dental Census ISD Scotland.

  Notes:

  West Lothian Health care is an integrated trust providing acute and primary care services. It is not possible to provide separate data for each of these services.

  Orkney Health Board, Shetland Health Board and Western Isles Health Board are special health boards providing acute and primary care services. It is not possible to provide separate data for each of these services.

Housing

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many empty (a) public and (b) private sector houses there currently are in each local authority area and what short- and long-term plans it has to increase occupancy in these houses.

Ms Margaret Curran: The Scottish Executive does not collect data on the number of empty properties in each local authority area. Ministers recognised that empty homes were a serious issue and the Empty Homes Initiative, which was introduced in 1997 and extended until March 2002, encouraged local authorities to identify the extent of the problem in their local area and provided funding to help meet the identified need. It now falls to local authorities to take this issue forward as part of their Local Housing Strategy.

Individual Learning Accounts

Phil Gallie (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether all legitimate invoices in respect of the individual learning accounts (ILA) scheme have now been cleared and, if they have not all been paid, how many ILA invoices have been (a) paid in full, (b) paid in part and (c) not received any payments.

Iain Gray: The payments validation exercise undertaken by Scottish Enterprise and  Highland and Islands Enterprise has now been completed, with the vast majority of claims having been validated and cleared for payment. However, in some cases, the validation exercise has identified indications of irregular payments. In such cases work is progressing to conclude the payment process, taking due account of the problems identified.

Individual Learning Accounts

Phil Gallie (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many learning providers or other organisations or individuals have been reported for fraudulent claims relating to individual learning accounts.

Iain Gray: A number of learning providers are presently under police investigation. The Crown Office has advised that it would be inappropriate to comment further at this point.

Individual Learning Accounts

Phil Gallie (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many learning providers under the individual learning account scheme have gone out of business since the scheme was suspended.

Iain Gray: The information requested is not held centrally.

Individual Learning Accounts

Phil Gallie (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-25845 by Iain Gray on 27 May 2002, what its current plans are in respect of replacing the individual learning account scheme.

Iain Gray: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-28428 on 11 September 2002.

Justice

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive under what circumstances an accused person can be tried in absentia and whether it will list all cases where this has happened in each of the last 30 years, broken down by criminal and civil court.

Mr Jim Wallace: In general, criminal trials in Scotland must be held in the presence of the accused. There are, however, certain exceptions to the general rule.

  If during the course of his trial an accused person so misconducts himself that a proper trial cannot take place, the court may order that the trial proceed in his absence.

  In summary proceedings an accused may be tried in his absence where he fails to appear in court after being duly notified and he is charged with a statutory offence:

  for which a sentence of imprisonment cannot be imposed, or

  in relation to which there is provision authorising procedure in the absence of the accused.

  In addition, an examination of the facts, held to determine whether an accused person who is insane did the acts or made the omission alleged, may proceed in the absence of the accused where it appears to the court that it is not practical or appropriate for the accused to attend.

  In civil proceedings decree may be granted in the absence of a defender after service of a writ or summons.

  Details of trials in absentia in the criminal courts in Scotland are not collected centrally. The number of decrees granted in absence in civil proceedings in Scotland are published annually in the Civil Judicial Statistics.

Land

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what resources it will commit to the development of land management contracts under its A Forward Strategy for Agriculture .

Ross Finnie: The future development of Land Management Contracts is being considered in a working group comprising a range of industry stakeholders. The working group is scheduled to report on this work to the Agriculture Strategy Implementation Group in early October. Decisions on the level of resources necessary to develop Land Management Contracts will be made in the light of both the report and the advice of the Agriculture Strategy Implementation Group.

Land Reform (Scotland) Bill

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether section 6(f) of the Land Reform (Scotland) Bill applies to rivers navigable by canoe; whether this provision is intended to permit landowners possessing fishing rights over such rivers to exclude access to canoeists and, if so, how and to what extent, and if this is not the purpose of the provision, whether it will amend the bill in order to ensure that fishing rights should not be given precedence over other recreational users, such as canoeists.

Ross Finnie: I see no reason why responsible canoeists and angling should not be able to co-exist on the same stretch of water. I understand that the current voluntary code relating to canoeing and angling works well and this will be reinforced by guidance in the Scottish Outdoor Access Code.

  Section 6(f)(ii) of the Land Reform (Scotland) Bill excludes from access rights land developed or set out for a particular recreational purpose while in use for that purpose. It applies to rivers navigable by canoe but is not intended to permit fishermen to prohibit canoeists from exercising access rights in relation to a river when fishing is under way. I accept, however, that the provision as presently drafted may in some cases be legitimately used for that purpose. For example, the construction of pools in a river bed for the purpose of fisheries management would be caught by that provision and fishermen could claim that access rights are not exercisable in relation to any such river when fishing is under way. That is not our policy. Amendment 153 to the bill seeks to address this issue and we have indicated that we would be content to accept it. This amendment would have the effect that rivers developed for fishing will not be excluded, under section 6(f), from the responsible exercise of access rights when fishing is taking place.

Land Reform (Scotland) Bill

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will clarify its policy intentions in respect of how the Land Reform (Scotland) Bill will impact upon the recreational use of navigable rivers and, if its position is that the bill should not prevent the use of such rivers by canoeists, how legitimate interests of the various recreational users of rivers can best be protected.

Ross Finnie: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-28859 today. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search .

Mental Health

Mr Lloyd Quinan (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-28051 by Mr Frank McAveety on 27 August 2002, whether all local area co-ordinators have been appointed and are now in place, as recommended in The same as you? , and how many are operating in each local authority area.

Mr Frank McAveety: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-28050 on 27 August 2002.

Mental Health

Mr Lloyd Quinan (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-28049 by Frank McAveety on 27 August 2002, whether all Practice in Partnership agreements have been prepared, agreed and are ready for implementation, as recommended in The same as you? .

Mr Frank McAveety: Yes. In many areas, implementation of The same as you? at local level began before Partnership in Practice Agreements were prepared.

NHS Funding

Nicola Sturgeon (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will detail any occasions in the last 12 months it has used the Arbuthnott formula to distribute funds between NHS board or trust areas.

Malcolm Chisholm: The bulk of NHS boards’ unified budgets allocated in the last 12 months has been distributed using the Arbuthnott formula.

NHS Funding

Nicola Sturgeon (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will detail any occasions in the last 12 months it has used alternatives to the Arbuthnott formula to distribute funds between NHS board or trust areas for example one based on the Scottish Health Authorities Resource Equalisation and, in each case, (a) what the funding was used for, (b) what kind of alternative formula was used and (c) why it sought to use an alternative formula to Arbuthnott.

Malcolm Chisholm: Funding is no longer distributed on the basis of the Scottish Health Authorities Resource Equalisation formula. The bulk of funding allocated to NHS boards is distributed using the Arbuthnott formula. In some instances, however, where specific projects are undertaken or where particular ministerial objectives are to be achieved, resources are distributed in a variety of different ways in order to achieve these objectives.

NHS Funding

Nicola Sturgeon (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what funding it made available to the National Review of Resource Allocation for the NHS in Scotland.

Malcolm Chisholm: The National Review of Resource Allocation drew on a range of resources including:

  statistical experts in the Information and Statistics Division of the Common Services Agency who provided much of the data used in this review and were also responsible for much of the analytical work;

  senior managers and medical and nursing experts from the NHS who took part in the work of the Arbuthnott Committee;

  external researchers who were commissioned to carry out some of the research needed to support the work of the review, and

  staff in the Scottish Executive Health Department who also provided substantial analytical support to this review.

  This was the first major review of the resource allocation formula that had been carried out for over 20 years, and it was important to ensure that the Arbuthnott Committee could draw on a wide range of advice for its work.

National Lottery Funding

Richard Lochhead (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many national lottery funding awards have been made to date in each (a) constituency and (b) local authority area broken down by national lottery fund and expressed (i) per capita and (ii) as a percentage of the overall total number of awards made.

Dr Elaine Murray: The statistics requested are not held centrally by the Scottish Executive but the Department for Culture, Media and Sport maintains a database of National Lottery awards on their website which sets out the number and amount of awards, by local authority area and by constituency, for each lottery fund.

Planning

Michael Russell (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many specialist officers with relevant experience or qualifications in minerals planning are currently employed by (a) it and (b) local authorities.

Hugh Henry: Minerals planning within the Executive is the responsibility of a branch within the Planning and Buildings Standards Group of the Development Department. This branch has recently been established to focus more effectively on minerals planning issues although the staff involved (one professional planner and one policy officer) have been involved in minerals planning for several years. No information is held centrally on specialist minerals planning officers employed by local authorities.

Planning

Michael Russell (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to develop a national policy on minerals extraction.

Hugh Henry: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-28493 on 16 September 2002.

Publishing

Michael Russell (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what importance it attaches to the publishing sector and what steps it is taking to ensure that the sector is operating effectively.

Iain Gray: The Scottish Executive fully recognises the importance of the publishing industry in Scotland. Not only because of the economic impact of the sector, but because of its potential to feed high-value intellectual properties into other creative sectors such as film, TV and electronic games.

  Through the Scottish Enterprise "Creative Industries" cluster it is working closely with organisations, such as the Scottish Arts Council and the Scottish Publishing Association, in a wide range of areas from assistance with developing new overseas markets to developing into e-business.

Publishing

Michael Russell (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether there are any implications for the retailing of books, the supply of books to libraries and the selling of books published in Scotland as a result of take-overs and commercial failures in the publishing sector and what action it is taking to address any such implications.

Iain Gray: The Scottish Executive acknowledges that market forces and the consolidation of retail bookselling have caused large-scale competition in the bookselling trade.

  The supply and selling of books published in Scotland is a commercial issue between the publishers and the retail outlets.

  However, Scottish Enterprise is currently engaged in a study to evaluate the potential of building a more active network of literary agents in Scotland to provide better access to market for Scottish writers through local publishers.

  Statutory responsibility for local libraries, the level of resources allocated and the service they provide, lies with local authorities.

Rail Network

Michael Russell (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether Railtrack plc can be sued in respect of access to land whilst the company is in administration.

Lewis Macdonald: This is a legal issue and as such it is a matter for the courts to decide whether Railtrack can be sued whilst it is in Railways Administration.

Road Accidents

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many road accidents have occurred in the Strathclyde Police divisions (a) N and (b) Q in each of the last five years.

Lewis Macdonald: Data about injury road accidents are collected by the police and reported to the Scottish Executive using the STATS 19 statistical report form. These returns cover only accidents in which one or more people were injured: they do not cover damage only accidents.

  The Executive’s statistical database can provide figures on the number of injury accidents by police force area, by local authority area and for specified lengths of individual roads.

  The areas covered by Strathclyde Police Divisions N and Q correspond to North Lanarkshire and South Lanarkshire Councils respectively. The following table gives the numbers of injury road accidents which were identified in the STATS 19 returns as occurring in North Lanarkshire and South Lanarkshire in the five years 1997 to 2001 inclusive.

  It should be noted that the statistics given are based upon the data which are held in the central statistical database and which were collected by the police at the time of the accident and subsequently reported to the Executive. They may differ from any figures which the local authority would provide now, because they do not take account of any subsequent changes or corrections that the local authority may have made to the statistical information, for use at local level, about the location of each accident, based upon its knowledge of the road and area concerned.

  


Local Authority 
  

Year 
  

Injury Road Accidents 
  



North Lanarkshire 
  

1997 
  

964 
  



1998 
  

993 
  



1999 
  

922 
  



2000 
  

987 
  



2001 
  

944 
  



South Lanarkshire 
  

1997 
  

949 
  



1998 
  

979 
  



1999 
  

931 
  



2000 
  

900 
  



2001 
  

849

Salmon Farming

Robin Harper (Lothians) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive how many incidents involving the death of farmed salmon resulting from algal blooms and jellyfish swarms have been reported and how many salmon have died as a result of such incidents in each year since 1990.

Allan Wilson: The reported information is as follows:

  Algal Bloom Mortalities

  


Year 
  

Number of Incidents 
  

Estimated Number of Fish Killed 
  



1999 
  

2 
  

151,000 
  



2000 
  

1 
  

1,400 
  



2001 
  

9 
  

1,232,300 
  



2002 
  

0 
  

0 
  



  Jellyfish Mortalities

  


Year 
  

Number of Incidents 
  

Estimated Number of Fish Killed 
  



1999 
  

2 
  

89,000 
  



2000 
  

1 
  

3,280 
  



2001 
  

6 
  

970,300 
  



2002 
  

4 
  

1,685,100

Salmon Farming

Robin Harper (Lothians) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive how many salmon farms have reported cases of (a) infectious pancreatic necrosis, (b) bacterial kidney disease and (c) infectious salmon anaemia in each year since 1979.

Allan Wilson: This information is not available. Farms subject to movement restrictions (Designated Area Orders - DAOs) for infectious pancreatic necrosis and bacterial kidney disease since 1979 follow. These tables give a general indication of the number of cases. Some DAOs are historical because farmers have not sought their revocation and some sites have been subject to more than one DAO per year. DAOs are served on suspicion or confirmation of the presence of the disease agent but this does not necessarily mean a clinical outbreak.

  (a) Infectious Pancreatic Necrosis

  


1979 
  

12 
  

1991 
  

168 
  



1980 
  

10 
  

1992 
  

194 
  



1981 
  

20 
  

1993 
  

219 
  



1982 
  

36 
  

1994 
  

220 
  



1983 
  

37 
  

1995 
  

180 
  



1984 
  

33 
  

1996 
  

179 
  



1985 
  

29 
  

1997 
  

197 
  



1986 
  

25 
  

1998 
  

190 
  



1987 
  

34 
  

1999 
  

215 
  



1988 
  

44 
  

2000 
  

292 
  



1989 
  

63 
  

2001 
  

325 
  



1990 
  

108 
  

2002 
  
 



  (b) Bacterial Kidney Disease

  


1979 
  

2 
  

1991 
  

26 
  



1980 
  

2 
  

1992 
  

23 
  



1981 
  

6 
  

1993 
  

23 
  



1982 
  

9 
  

1994 
  

18 
  



1983 
  

14 
  

1995 
  

19 
  



1984 
  

18 
  

1996 
  

19 
  



1985 
  

18 
  

1997 
  

17 
  



1986 
  

15 
  

1998 
  

15 
  



1987 
  

17 
  

1999 
  

20 
  



1988 
  

22 
  

2000 
  

27 
  



1989 
  

24 
  

2001 
  

26 
  



1990 
  

27 
  

2002 
  

22 
  



  In the case of infectious salmon anaemia, confirmed and suspect cases were 10 and 15 respectively in 1998 and one and nine in 1999.

Scottish Arts Council

Richard Lochhead (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many awards the Scottish Arts Council has made in each of the last five years, broken down by (a) parliamentary constituency and (b) local authority area expressed (i) per capita and (ii) as a percentage of the overall number of awards made in each year.

Dr Elaine Murray: I have referred the question to the Scottish Arts Council asking that a response be made directly to the member.

Scottish Executive

Richard Lochhead (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many regulations were (a) revoked and (b) simplified in order to reduce bureaucracy by each of its departments in each of the last three years.

Iain Gray: Regulations can be revoked or simplified both by specific instruments addressing these regulations and by elements contained in more wide-ranging instruments. It is therefore not possible to give figures for reductions in bureaucracy. The Executive works to ensure that all regulations are necessary and proportionate. In particular, for regulations which impact on business, charities and the voluntary sector, the use of the Regulatory Impact Assessment and the Review Regulatory Impact Assessment should guarantee that regulations are proportionate, necessary and fit for purpose when they are introduced and remain so over time.

Scottish Transport Group Pension Schemes

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, regarding its proposals for ex-gratia payments to be made in relation to the Scottish Bus Group Pension Funds, whether (a) it has (i) sought and (ii) obtained support from Her Majesty’s Government that a concession should be granted by the Inland Revenue that recipients of such payments will not attract a liability for income tax, (b) the widow or widower of a member of the pension scheme who died on or after 18 December 2000, but before 7 June 2002, will receive the same payment as the member would have received if he or she had survived or whether that payment will be reduced by 50% and (c) common law spouses will receive the same entitlement to payments as widows and widowers.

Lewis Macdonald: I wrote to HM Treasury on 9 August 2002 asking for further consideration to be given to the tax charge applicable in respect the ex-gratia payments. I await a reply.

  Where the principal beneficiary died on or after 18 December 2000, but before a payment is made, a full payment will be made to the widow or widower, or estate. Unmarried partners of deceased former members will also receive the full payment, subject to appropriate evidence that the relationship constituted a marriage by habit or repute.

Social Justice

Shona Robison (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what is being done to encourage and support local authority mediation services for neighbourhood disputes.

Ms Margaret Curran: To encourage and support mediation services, the Scottish Executive funds SACRO to provide a nationwide service from which all local authorities and housing associations can benefit. This involves seminars and training; providing a national consultancy service; producing guidance, and providing training. We are also funding research into cost and effectiveness of mediation which will be published next year.

Sport

Donald Gorrie (Central Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will establish a community sports programme.

Dr Elaine Murray: Sportscotland is currently taking forward the Sport 21  review process to revise and update the strategy for sport in Scotland. In tandem with this,  sportscotland will consult on the development of its strategy for distribution of the Lottery Sport Fund. The current process, due for completion by April 2003, will determine the need to retain existing and develop new programmes. It would therefore not be appropriate to establish new programmes before this process is concluded.

Suicide

Mr Adam Ingram (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the duration is of the Breathing Space project on reducing the suicide rate amongst young men.

Malcolm Chisholm: Funding for the Breathing Space advice line is initially for the three years from 2001-04. Breathing Space will be reviewed on a regular basis to assess its performance.

Suicide

Mr Adam Ingram (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the total cost has been to date of setting up and operating Breathing Space.

Malcolm Chisholm: Approximately £160,000 was spent in 2001-02. The budget for the project is £400,000 in each of the years 2002-03 and 2003-04. These figures cover the development and setting up of the line, service provision, publicity and other running costs.

Suicide

Mr Adam Ingram (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many calls the Breathing Space project on reducing the suicide rate amongst young men has received since the projects launch.

Malcolm Chisholm: In the period from its launch on 8 April 2002 until 31 July, Breathing Space operators dealt with 2,546 calls.

Suicide

Mr Adam Ingram (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how the Breathing Space project on reducing the suicide rate amongst young men is staffed and what relevant training is provided.

Malcolm Chisholm: A pool of several specialist advisers staff the Breathing Space line, with two usually on duty during opening hours. These advisers mostly have a social work or other professional mental health background. Staff receive several days’ intensive training on a range of topics before working on the line: this includes input about psychiatric illnesses and how to discuss sensitively the types of symptoms and concerns which can arise with the most common mental illnesses.

Suicide

Mr Adam Ingram (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether any evaluation has been made of the Breathing Space project on reducing the suicide rate amongst young men.

Malcolm Chisholm: No formal evaluation has yet been undertaken, as the line has only been in operation for some five months. However, on-going monitoring is taking place, and a formal evaluation will be arranged once the service has been running for a more substantial period.

Voluntary Organisations

Donald Gorrie (Central Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will give financial assistance to voluntary youth organisations to help cover the costs of administering Scottish Criminal Record Office checks on voluntary youth workers.

Dr Richard Simpson: We are making available £1 million per annum so that volunteers working with children and vulnerable adults in the voluntary sector may obtain criminal record certificates at no cost to them or to the voluntary organisations concerned.

  We are also funding Volunteer Development Scotland (VDS) to act as the central registered body to process applications for criminal record checks from the voluntary sector. VDS will also provide guidance and advice to help the voluntary sector make the best possible use of the new criminal record checking system.

  We have no plans to make additional funding available to voluntary organisations for this purpose.

Voluntary Organisations

Donald Gorrie (Central Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will arrange liability insurance cover for voluntary organisations to cover them and their paid and voluntary helpers from claims arising from adventure activities or other accidents.

Ms Margaret Curran: The Scottish Executive currently has no plans to arrange liability insurance cover for voluntary organisations to cover this type of activity.

  Volunteer Development Scotland, the national centre for excellence in volunteering, strongly recommends that organisations making use of volunteers obtain adequate insurance cover.

Voluntary Organisations

Donald Gorrie (Central Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how it recognises voluntary youth work as part of the educational process.

Cathy Jamieson: I fully recognise the important role of youth work in the social and personal development of young people and am grateful for the work and commitment of voluntary youth organisations in this important area.

  The Executive provides direct financial support to 31 national voluntary youth organisations as well as to YouthLink, the umbrella organisation for the voluntary youth work sector in Scotland.

Voluntary Organisations

Donald Gorrie (Central Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether part of the £95 million it is giving to local authorities announced on 26 June 2002 will be allocated to voluntary youth organisations to encourage young people to take part in sport.

Mr Andy Kerr: £18.4 million has been allocated to promote healthy lifestyle choices amongst children and young people, including the promotion of sport and the provision of coaching and equipment. A number of voluntary youth organisations will benefit from the Quality of Life funding, but the exact allocation to these organisations is a matter for each local authority to decide.

Voluntary Organisations

Donald Gorrie (Central Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive on what basis grants for core funding are allocated to voluntary organisations.

Ms Margaret Curran: Scottish Executive funding is available:

  for activities that promote Scottish Executive objectives;

  to support capacity building within organisations on the basis of agreed outputs;

  to fund core management, administrative and relevant costs where an organisation has a continuing role in the delivery of particular policy objectives, and

  for national generic infrastructure organisations and associated local networks to promote the growth and effectiveness of voluntary and community organisations.

Voluntary Organisations

Fiona McLeod (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-27773 by Ms Margaret Curran on 16 August 2002, what disproportionate costs are associated with obtaining information on organisations to which it has given money to in the East Dunbartonshire Council area in (a) 2001-02 and (b) 2002-03.

Ms Margaret Curran: The Scottish Executive has provided £228 million to more than 700 voluntary groups in 2002-03. The majority of these operate at a national level and their programmes and services are not always disaggregated by geographical area. Although many of these will impact upon the East Dunbartonshire Council area, the Executive would need to ask each grant recipient to provide the information requested. This would include a disproportionate cost.

Water Safety

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how often the water supply in public swimming baths is checked in order to ensure that it is safe from water-borne diseases and contamination.

Malcolm Chisholm: The Health and Safety Executive guidance, Managing Health and Safety In Swimming Pools, states that:

  "Manual checking of the water by taking appropriate tests for disinfectant and pH levels, together with other chemical tests that are recommended by PWTAG (The Pool Water Treatment Advisory Group), are a fundamental requirement for all pools. Some pools are fitted with automatic controllers that measure the amounts of disinfectant or the pH of the pool and then vary the dose rate in accordance with the readings. In a pool where these devices are working well and can be relied upon for their accuracy then manually testing the water before the pool is used, after the cessation of use, and one intermediate test may provide sufficient monitoring. In a pool where dosing is controlled manually, the pool should be tested prior to use and every 2 hours thereafter through to closing."

Water Safety

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how often the water supply in hospitals is checked in order to ensure that it is safe from water-borne diseases and contamination.

Malcolm Chisholm: The requirement for and frequency of testing is a matter for individual hospitals to determine based upon risk assessments and governed by good practice arrangements.

  Some guidance is provided for example in Scottish Health Technical Memorandum 2027 which recommends water sampling at six-monthly intervals wherever bulk drinking water storage exceeds 1,000 litres and is supplied from the water undertaker.

  Frequency of sampling where given is provided for initial guidance only as the frequency will vary to suit particular sites, locations, design parameters and particular principles employed.

Water Safety

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what measures are in place to ensure that water-cooled air conditioning systems in hospitals are safe.

Malcolm Chisholm: Comprehensive guidance on the management and operation of such installations is available to NHS trusts in technical manuals produced by NHSScotland Property and Environment Forum.

Young People

Robert Brown (Glasgow) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what support it is giving to building opportunity and capacity for participation by young people in civic society.

Cathy Jamieson: I am pleased that we have been able to directly support the Scottish Youth Parliament, the Young Scot youth information service and the National Youth Portal, Scotland’s first interactive Youth Website. These all play a major role in informing and encouraging the active participation of young people in Scotland. In addition, Connect Youth, which supports local youth fora throughout Scotland is co-ordinated by YouthLink Scotland, which receives Scottish Executive funding.

  In schools, the 5-14 Programme offers a number of opportunities for pupils to learn about citizenship education under personal and social development, religious and moral education and, in particular, under social subjects within environmental studies.

  Schools are also asked to set out in their annual school development plans how they have consulted pupils and involved them in decision making. Examples of interesting ways in which the consultation and involvement of decision making is being carried out will be put on the National Priorities website where shared information across authorities and schools is being held.

  Following publication of their report Education for Citizenship in Scotland: A Paper for Discussion and Development, we have asked Learning and Teaching Scotland to consider the most effective means of taking forward the report’s recommendations. This will form the basis for a national framework for education for citizenship for 3- to 18-year-olds.